Ra
Ra is the human warlock running Ra's Magic Shop in The Alley. He is a good-humoured man known for waxed, well-groomed facial hair and exuberant clothing. Ostentatious and concerned about his appearance, Ra is notable for his Russian-sounding accent. He was met by Imogen Parker and Layla Smith during their travels in The Alley. He developed a particular interest in Imogen's talent as a witch. Despite owning a well-enchanted and stocked business in The Alley, his shop is strangely often devoid of custom. He offers a variety of goods and services ranging from magical artifacts, to books, more more esoteric services. While Imogen and Layla had given him custom, they developed some wariness of cultivating a close relationship with him due to their prior experiences with The Child. Biography Not Above Suspicion After Mrs. Phillips was turned into a vampire, Ra manifested in the mortal dimension. He proceded to take anything of value from the Phillips Gardening Consortium, saying that she owed him. He offered Imogen a job at his shop and an offer to study for an undetermined time, impressed by her skill at magic despite not being professionally trained. He also took Violet into his employ after she begged him. After Imogen and Layla asked for a way to contact each other, he gave each of them a piece of quickly-enchanted paper and pen to contact each other. Imogen declined his offer to study at a witches' coven near Oxford to work for him. The Man Behind the Curtain In fact the notorious mystic Rasputin, the name by which he signs his blood contracts with, Ra is a far more powerful and dangerous being than he seems at first glance. Always ready to make a deal, Ra is in fact the avatar of Greed. A millennium-old warlock, he made a pact with Greed a millennium ago to become its avatar. In exchange for immense power, he became Greed's facilitator against the other Cardinal Sins and to propagate it as much as he could. He is mortal, just technically, though he has an expanded lifetime. Consequently, he spent centuries manipulating the nations of earth into warfare and exaggerating their greed. He claimed to have had a hand in almost every major human disaster in his lifetime, manipulating people towards greed. These include conquests of Napoleon Bonaparte, the reign of Tsar Nicholas II, the rise of the Nazis. He regrets his involvement with the Nazis only due to their industrial slaughter, for the dead cannot be greedy. Additionally, he takes some pride in his reputation as Rasputin, openly acceding to the rumours about him and Tsarina Alexandra. Having amassed so much power, he created The Alley itself by building over a plane he described as an idyllic paradise. Thus, he presides as the ruler of the plane, a dimension of trade. That being said, he still has machinations on earth. After Layla asked for a golem soul in order to re-insoul Charity, he agreed to give her the location in a blood-bound contract for a spear that turned out to be the Holy Lance. While highly powerful, disturbances in Tunisia resulted in the destruction of his contacts there by burning and salting. Later, a desperate Layla came to Ra for assistance against Thom Huell. In exchange for greater powers against him and Ra's assistance in blocking the Hole in Heaven, she gave him an undefined control over Katherine Winters. After the thwarting of Thom Huell's plan, Ra manifested before them to collect his end of the bargain. A somewhat-betrayed Katherine and Layla altered the deal to have both end up in his employ; the former for a decade and the latter for the summer. He considers the two "interesting" and valuable tools under his thumb. He may have also made a deal to have Violet work for him as well. Despite his affable demeanour and claims of being "generous", Ra is a ruthless businessman with non-existent morals. This has drawn the ire of both Imogen Parker and Robert Davidson. Layla Smith too has nursed plans to get rid of him at some point. Known Aliases and Involvements *The Reign of Napoleon Bonaparte *The Reign of Tsar Nicholas II, 1906-1916 (Grigori Yefimovich Rasputin) *The National Socialist Party and Nazi Germany, 1929-1945 Category:Layla the Vampire Slayer Season 2 Category:Non Player Characters